Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) officially kicked off a potential 2020 White House bid by forming an exploratory committee for the campaign. USA TODAY
While 2018 has been a pivotal year in California’s political history — particularly the Republican Party’s losing half of its congressional seats — 2019 may be even more significant.
The state’s politics will likely be dominated by two rolling events: the beginning of Gavin Newsom’s governorship and California’s bid to become a factor in presidential politics.
Newsom will be the first Democrat to succeed a Democratic governor in more than a century, which means he doesn’t have to hastily form a new administration and get rid of Republican appointees to hundreds of positions, as Jerry Brown did in 1975 and Gray Davis did in 1999.
That, coupled with not having to deal with a severe budget crunch on inauguration day like most other new governors, gives Newsom the luxury of easing into the job.
Dan Walters: Outgoing Gov. Brown tries to forge big water deal
Whether Newsom takes his time is something to watch, given that he’s demonstrated a certain penchant for impulsive moves, both personal and political, in the past.
We’ll get some clues to how Newsom approaches governing the nation’s most populous and economically significant state in the first month, as he delivers his inauguration speech, introduces a proposed 2019-20 budget just three days later, then tells lawmakers what he wants them to do in a State of the State address.
Will he focus on Californiacentric issues, such as the…
